Chris Matthews Grills Alabama’s Rick Barber on Campaign Ads

Rick Barber, a tea-party-backed Republican congressional candidate in Alabama, released perhaps the most ridiculous of the Alabama campaign ads (which, of course, is sayingsomething) a few weeks ago — and tonight he was forced to defend his bizarre clip (in which “George Washington” creepily commands, “Gather your armies”) on Chris Matthews’ Hardball. Matthews essentially calls Barber out on each point in his YouTube-ready ads, and it’s a generally gruesome affair. Highlights include Matthews asking Barber (who has trouble keeping it together throughout) if he is “a metaphor for a guy running for office” and the snappy back-and-forth toward the end as to how many times Barber’s beenaudited.